Friend Like Me
by NobuJobu
Summary: After his defeat to Goku, Frieza wanted nothing more than revenge. But what if things went differently. And if so what would that mean for Future Trunks and his destiny. A DBZ What If AU.
1. Chapter 1 - The Return

Not the greatest at writing, but its been a while and felt like getting back into it with this FanFic. Leave me any comments and suggestions in my reviews. Any help is appreciated. Hope you enjoy.

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The evil tyrant Frieza had finally met his demise to Goku on planet Namek. As the Z gang celebrated the victory on Earth so did the rest of the universe. Frieza had been a menace for years across many planets so when word of his death spread, all he brought harm to could rejoice. However King Cold did not want to believe his son was beaten and killed by a mere saiyan so he established a search party to find him. Being half right the remnants of Frieza's forces found a body on the edge of the solar system containing the Namekian planet he exploded on. It indeed was Frieza torn to shreds but amazingly still clinging on to a string of life. Having the best scientist at his disposal King Cold quickly had Frieza rebuilt. At first the scientists wanted to upgrade his body with technologies that could make him stronger, faster, deadlier. But King Cold declined this knowing his son despised enhancements and would rather it be cell regeneration.

All of the studies suggested it would take years for his body to be rebuilt but Frieza somehow managed it in months. Eager to know what happened King Cold rushed to the lab but Frieza was gone. And when King Cold asked the whereabouts of his son the scientist replied "Training."

Not once in his life did Frieza ever feel the need to train, because up until now no one could best him in combat. But Goku and his newly found super saiyan powers changed all this. During this time, Sorbet, one of the remaining generals in Frieza's army was given a task by King Cold. He was to gather any remaining troops scattered around the universe.

Though this proved to be very hard due to rebellions and uprisings in large numbers, it took Sorbet almost fifteen years to accomplish his mission. However it wasn't enough and King Cold felt the only way to return power to his regime was to use the Namekian Dragon Balls Frieza failed to obtain.

But right before making his way for Namek, Frieza had finally returned. Explaining only one thing to his father he said "We make a course for Earth, there too you can find your dragon balls but most of all I will show that yellow haired monkey what true power looks like."

Cold could feel that Frieza had changed and was determined to exact his revenge. Interested in the dragon balls but also this legendary super saiyan called Goku he agreed to set a course for planet earth.

"We have arrived my Lord, but there must be some mistake."

"What mistake? Is this or is this not the planet Earth? The one those filthy saiyans now call home?" King Cold's patience had been wearing thin as he scoffed at the soldier for answers.

Trembling the soldier replied. "Ye...ye.. yes my lord this is Earth but the planetary scanners are displaying this planet as a wasteland. Barely any signs of life."

"A wasteland?! Are you telling me we came all this way for nothing?!" Fearful for his life the soldier did not want to answer King Cold's question. However King Cold had enough and slammed his tail against the soldiers monitor. The small explosion quickly made all the soldiers of Frieza's forces feel uneasy. "I want answers! My son told me this planet was supposed to be teaming with life of low level creatures. But most importantly this planet has the dragon balls."

"Most important only to you father." Standing in the doorway was Frieza. He heard the commotion coming from the command center and walked in as his father was in raged over the news. "I know the thought of making any wish pleases you father but I am beyond this. I told you that the only thing driving me at this very instant is destroying every last one of those saiyan monkeys." All of Frieza's men stood to attention before bowing to their lord.

"Our apologies my lord but it seems that coming here may have led us to a dead end." A soldier explained. "I can only compare it to a planet that we have just conquered. It can even be that someone else has already wiped out these beings."

King Cold laughs as he looks over to his son. "I guess this Goku wasn't as strong as you thought."

Frieza glares out the window looking down to Earth as he cannot accept this. "Impossible, it pains me to even think this but Goku's powers were well beyond my own in our last encounter. There must be more to this. General Shisami, I want you and half of my forces to go to Earth and find me answers but most importantly I want to know where Goku and his friends are hiding."

"But Lord Frieza surely sending five hundred soldiers seems a bit much for such a planet." Shisami replied.

"General Shisami are you questioning my decision?" Frieza asked.

"No sir, I just meant I could handle this with my best men." Shisami explained.

Frieza smiles before he speaks. "I appreciate the level of confidence Shisami but know this, you and everyone of my soldiers on this ship would be no match for Goku. I simply just want you to find him. And report back."

"Yes Lord Frieza." Shisami says as he bows and exits the room.

"Frieza the only reason I lent you my troops and came on this ridiculous trip was because I am intrigued into seeing this so called super saiyan who bested you." King Cold yawned half way through speaking to Frieza and then continued. "But this is shaping into a waste of time, so we will head to Namek as originally planned regardless of your revenge. Twenty four hours and then we head off, I'll be in my room until then."

As King Cold left for his room, Frieza again stared at the planet Earth while clenching his fist. In a way he felt his father could be right. How could the Earth Goku swore to protect be in ruin.


	2. Chapter 2 - The New World

General Shisami and the Frieza forces had started reconnaissance on the planet Earth, but it didn't take long before they realized Earth indeed was in ruins. Unknown to them years before their arrival, the cause of this was Dr. Gero but more so his creations of Androids #17 and #18. Dr. Gero had long wanted revenge against Goku before Frieza but in his pursuit it cost him his life. Androids 17 and 18 found out that Gero's plan for them was to only kill Goku and then to be deactivated due to not being able to be fully controlled. Not wanting to be shut off the androids conspired against their creator pretending to play along to kill Goku. However there was no need, Goku had succumbed to heart failure. With this news Gero was excited as he felt Goku would be the only person to stand in his way to reclaim power in the world. While fixated on this the androids saw an opportunity to strike, disabling Gero's only remote to deactivate them.

17 and 18 then killed Gero but not before torturing him. With no one left to stop them, the androids began an assault on the Earth, only to test their powers. With Goku gone the rest of the Z fighters gathered to try and stop the evil duo. But it was no good. Piccolo, Krillin, Chiaotzu, and Tien were the first of the fighters to lose their lives. Yamcha quickly realized he and Gohan were outmatched but felt he should at least put up a fight to let Gohan escape. But right at that moment, Vegeta had appeared. Wanting to prove Goku wasn't needed he led the androids away to fight on his own. Yamcha and Gohan were able to escape to Capsule Corp. There awaiting them was Bulma, Chi Chi and Master Roshi. Hearing the horrible news caused a lot of pain amongst everyone. Bulma especially took this hard because on that day Vegeta was never seen alive again.

At the time no one knew she and Vegeta had become so close. So it was a shock to everyone she was pregnant with his child. After giving birth to Trunks, Bulma didn't want her child to live a life in fear of the androids so she started a resistance. With this Bulma recruited Yamcha, Master Roshi and even Gohan to try and stop 17 and 18. Yet all their efforts were for nothing. All they could manage to do was hide and survive. And in time this way of living became the norm.

As the years went on Master Roshi took it upon himself to train Gohan and Trunks. Both flourished under his guidance. Gohan just like his dad even managed to achieve super saiyan. Trunks admired how strong Gohan had become and looked up to him as a big brother. But nonetheless Gohan's new found power was not enough. Little by little the resistance was decimated. Until one day the androids managed to find a base camp. Mostly everyone managed to escape from the attacks except for Roshi. Gohan wanted to stay and fight but Roshi insisted he run and would catch up later. But that did not happen. Another strong fighter was lost. Times got hard after that. Even Chi Chi had become a victim of the ruined planet, due to old age and not having adequate medicine to heal herself.

Years go by and now the resistance was nothing but a few hundred survivors led by Yamcha, Bulma and Gohan. Trunks would help with the cause but Bulma made sure Gohan kept a close eye on him. But to make matters worse they had no clue Frieza had returned. Puar and a few survivors looking for food noticed some of Frieza's men scouting around. Not recognizing them but knowing they were up to no good, Puar knew he needed to reach Yamcha and the others to tell them what he saw.

"Bulma are you out of your mind?!" Yamcha complained. "There is just no way we can keep taking in more people. It's bad enough we can barely maintain what little survivors we have left in this resistance, if we can even call it that anymore."

Letting out a sigh Bulma just looked at Yamcha as she knew he was partly right. "You don't think I know that already Yamcha! But aren't you tired of running. Yes supplies are low, yes we are barely scraping by. But for what if not to help others in need. I mean we can't just give up."

"I'm not saying we give up. And yes I am tired but, I'm just saying we need to … I dunno take a break, before we become the ones looking for help. But you know if that happens, game over hun cause there's no one left coming to save us." As soon as Yamcha said this he wanted to take it back. He knew deep down Bulma needed no reminding of everyone who had past over the years. "Um Bulma sorry I didn't mean to… I just blurted that out and..."

"Yaaaaamcha!" Puar screeched as he flew like a bat out of hell into Yamcha's face interrupting his conversation with Bulma.

"Puar what's so important that you needed to missle strike yourself into my mouth. Ugh I think I swallowed some of your fur just now." As Yamcha was pulling hairs off his face Bulma could see that Puar was frightened.

"You look really shaken up Puar, don't tell me 17 and 18 are close to finding us again. We barely been here a month." Bulma said.

"No no no… not the androids!" Puar could hardly speak as he tried to catch his breath.

Bulma and Yamcha looked at each other in confusion but right before they could ask Puar anymore questions something set off the base camps intrusion alarms. "Those are the motion detection systems. Puar who did you see? Who is out there?" Yamcha asked.

"I don't know. I just saw a lot of them. And they were all wearing similar armor." As Puar spoke, more and more detection alarms were being set off. At this time Bulma knew something was very wrong. "I'm going to see if I can bring up a video feed. I know the cams have been on the fritz but I need to see what's going on." She then proceeds to type away at her desk trying to pull up any known cameras in the vicinity.

"Oh whoa right there you finally got one up." Yamcha said as he was trying to make out what was in the grainy footage. "Can you make it any clearer?" Bulma continued to configure the systems until finally she was able to clean up the feed. Though what she saw left her speechless and pale. "Bulma what gives these guys they have the same kind of armor Vegeta used to wear."

Yamcha didn't notice right away but Bulma had become petrified by what she saw. He called out to her a couple times but no response. He then reached out to put his hand on her shoulder and that finally caused her to snap out of it. "Bulma you okay there? What about these guys got you so spooked?" Yamcha asked.

"Your right about what you said before Yamcha. Those soldiers they are wearing saiyan armor. But the thing is if you remember it wasn't the saiyans who created that clothing." It took a second for Yamcha to realize but it came to him. Back when he died fighting the saibamen brought to earth by Nappa and Vegeta, Yamcha trained on King Kai's planet. And during that training King Kai managed to bring along Ginyu Force members killed on Namek. And they too were wearing that same armor.

"Wait no it can't be what I'm thinking. If these guys got this armor from the same place then that would mean that they are Frieza's men. Why now? What purpose?" Yamcha said as he was having a hard time grasping at what he just learned.

"What if Frieza is with them Yamcha. This is bad this is extremely bad. It's not enough we got the androids to worry about but now this. And oh no Trunks! Trunks and Gohan went out on patrol this morning! No no no, we have to get to them we have to warn them we ..." Yamcha interrupted as he could see Bulma starting to panic.

"Come on now Bulma. Chill out a second, Gohan's with Trunks and he's smart. No way he lets anything happen out there. And this Frieza talk, its crazy. Frieza's dead. Not only did Goku defeat em but Namek blew up. That's why we ended up wishing Namek back. No way he survived that blast, just no way. Now I'll head out to grab Trunks and Gohan and we regroup to try and figure out what the heck is going on. And who knows maybe the androids run into the soldiers and if we are lucky they take each other out." Yamcha smiled as he explained this to Bumla trying to give her peace of mind. But just like her, he too was afraid of not knowing what was happening.


	3. Chapter 3 - They're Here

Yamcha began to make his way to a secret tunnel exit. It was meant to be used in case of an android attack. But given the situation Yamcha figured it would be a good way to sneak around Frieza's soldiers and get to Gohan and Trunks. As he walked all he could think about was how things turned out last time Frieza was around. Still Yamcha couldn't accept the fact Frieza would've survived and was certain it was just remnant forces that somehow made their way to Earth.

After finally reaching the end of the tunnel, Yamcha slowly opened up the latched door and took a peek outside. He couldn't sense any power sources nearby, so it seemed like none of the soldiers had been scouting that side of the base. Though as he locked the door and turned around he was met face to face with one of the soldiers. For a couple moments they just stared at each other in confusion. It was the soldier who went for the first move as he slowly tried to raise his arm to fire a ki blast. But Yamcha swiftly counteracted by springing forward and quickly subduing the soldier by pinning him to the floor and holding both of his arms behind his back. The soldier squirmed to try and break free but to Yamcha's surprise he was very weak. Over the years dealing with the androids Yamcha hadn't fully noticed he too became stronger.

"Unhand me you stupid human if you know whats good for you." The comment made Yamacha smirk as he was the one with the upperhand. "Uh … yeah sure pal, I don't think you know how this works, you're the one in trouble here. So here's whats going to happen I'm gonna ask you some questions and your gonna answer." The soldier still wouldn't comply and tried to gather energy to blast the ground hoping to escape, however Yamcha could sense him charging energy and twisted one of his arms back slowly. "If you keep this up I will not hesitate to snap your arms like twigs. Now let's try this again. Why are you here? What do you want?"

This time it was the soldier who laughed. "I am a member of the Frieza Force have no reason to answer to you human." Yamcha was taken aback by what was just spoken and without even noticing kept twisting on the soldiers arm until it indeed snapped like a twig. As the soldier screamed out in pain Yamcha quickly grabbed his head and stuffed it into the ground muffling the yell. "Frieza Force huh? Still using the name of a dead guy to try and strike some fear are we? Not gonna work, I know for sure Frieza didn't make it off of Namek."

"You will wish Frieza was dead once he is done exacting his revenge on this pathetic planet. Because not only is Frieza not dead but he is stronger than ever before. I almost pity the one they call Goku, it's truly the main reason we are on this rock." Yamcha was stunned but right then out of nowhere he swiftly dodged a ki blast that directly struck the soldier he was pinning down. The soldier was decimated all that was left was bits of the armor. When Yamcha looked up, he realized he was surrounded. Being rattled by the news of Frieza had led him to let his guard down. In front of him were about fifteen soldiers but only one of them actually caught his attention most. It was the red giant with horns, General Shisami. Yamcha knew right away this guy was going to be a problem.

"Looks like you missed me there and kinda took out one of your own." Yamcha spoke as he was buying time trying to figure out what his next move would be. "Did I now?" The red giant said. "No I think I hit exactly what I wanted. There is no room in this army for blabbering failures."

"General Shisami sir! Please let us take care of this human! We shall not fail you like the other." A soldier shouted. But General Shisami had other plans. "No! This human is way stronger than the ones we've encountered so far. I have no doubt he is connected to this Goku we are looking for. Leave him to me and search around fully, this is where they are hiding." As the soldiers began to fly off Yamcha rapidly fired off a flurry of energy beams but they were all intercepted by ki blast of Shisami.

"Nice try human but you're dealing with me now and when we are done, depending on how this goes, I'll grant you a quick death just as I did for that soldier earlier." General Shisami then proceeded to charge up his powers. Yamcha knew there was nothing left to do but take a stand and fight.

About a half an hour before Yamcha's run in with the Frieza Forces, Gohan and Trunks were close by patrolling a nearby city looking for food, supplies and any survivors in need of help."Trunks you been pretty quiet today, what gives? Your usually going on and on about some new technique that I can't stand a chance against next time we spar." Trunks gave a half hearted smile. "Oh it's nothing just a little tired today is all." Gohan being around Trunks since birth knew him all too well. As a father figure and a big brother he read Trunks like a book. "Come on now Trunks not going to slide with that excuse, you are terrible at hiding it when something is on your mind."

"Well it's just I overheard something. I know mom and Yamcha argue all the time but this was different." Trunks spoke while rubbing his head. "Different how?" Gohan asked. "It was about dad." Trunks replied. Gohan knew talking about Vegeta was a touchy subject . Bulma felt Trunks wasn't ready to know everything just yet, so everyone respected that. Though now it seemed Gohan was left with no choice but to address what was bothering young Trunks. The two took a break from patrolling on the roof on a tall building. "I know it seems like we tend not to talk about your dad much Trunks and when we do it's more like we just tiptoe around his name. Vegeta was a complex guy and given all he went through at a young age it's understandable."

"So it's understandable my father was a killer then!" Trunks blurted out as he could not contain his emotions. "You and mom were really the only ones to ever talk about dad. Everyone else would just clam up if I brought up his name. And Yamcha, its bad enough I always felt he disliked me for some reason. He never was mean or did anything to hurt me, but I could feel him distancing himself from me. Well after last night I know why." Gohan wanted to step in to talk but Trunks held up his hand. "I know what your going to say Gohan. But even now I know you guys probably just wanted to protect me from the truths about my dad." Gohan nodded his head understanding Trunks had been growing up so fast these days and to no ones fault it just wasn't a world fit to be a regular kid anymore. "Okay carry on then Trunks."

"Well like I said before I overheard Yamcha and mom arguing. It started off with the usual stuff like what's our next move and who should do what. Things got a little more heated when the subject on what to do about the androids popped up. And that's when Yamcha out of nowhere brought up how he didnt understand how my mom had a relationship with my dad. At first I thought he was cracking jokes like usual, but then he said things no one has ever told me. He spoke about how my father was a killer and that he would go planet to planet killing for that Frieza guy you told me about once. I guess Yamcha was trying to compare the android threat to my dad. But the worst part was when he mentioned that my dad was responsible for the deaths of Piccolo, Tien, Chaitsu, and himself. He almost killed even you Gohan! If it wasn't for your dad it seems like Earth would be just how it is now if my dad wasn't stopped back then. I just don't understand why no one would tell me this. Was my dad that evil? And if so what did my mom see in him?"

Everything Trunks spoke had left Gohan speechless. Not because he didn't already know these things but because he didn't really know how to answer that question. "Listen Trunks it's not my place to tell you everything you want to know about your dad, however I feel like you deserve the truth about things so when we get back I'll talk to Bulma and we will all have this talk. No more secrets, no more half truths. Trust me I know how it feels to get sheltered, my mom did it as well and I never enjoyed it but she did it out of love. But your older now so I get it."

Trunks finally smiled as he was glad Gohan was willing to do this for him. "Oh and then after can we spar I want to show you my new special move, no way you're stopping it."

"There it is! I knew you were thinking about that also. Well if there's time I guess if you're really itching to lose so bad." Gohan said with a laugh at the end.

"Oh yeah we'll see about that. Let's go…." A large blast had startled Trunks from finishing that sentence. As he looked towards the smoke that explosion caused he knew it was from the area of the emergency escape tunnel. "Gohan is it them?! The androids?!"

Gohan's face had become way more serious as he knew something was wrong. "No this feels different, I'm actually sensing power levels. And it's not from our side."

"We got to hurry mom and the others they can be in danger!" Trunks tried to take flight but was quickly stopped by Gohan. "Gohan what are you doing, we have to leave!"

"Shhh." Gohan pointed towards the sky and then Trunks saw it. "It's the androids Trunks. They must've heard the blast and came to investigate. We have to stay low and keep our ki levels down. You got that."

Trunks nodded and calmed down as he realized he had been panicking and needed to become more calm like his big brother Gohan. However in the back of his mind he knew this was an extremely bad situation. An unknown enemy and the androids stood in their way. All he wanted now was to make sure his mother and the others were safe.


	4. Chapter 4 - Conflict

Yamcha had no time to dwell on the fact that he just found out Frieza was somehow still alive after all this time. General Shisami began to power up and Yamcha noticed not only was this red giant's power level rising but he was also expanding his muscles. In return Yamcha got serious and started gathering his ki but quickly found himself on the defense as Shisami bull rushed with a barrage of punches. But due to Yamcha's quickness he was able to block and evade this initial attack.

"You surprise me human, usually no one still stands after my attacks, but I'm just getting warmed up." Shisami's power seemed to have capped but Yamcha couldn't deny the fact that with each blow he blocked it felt like his bones were being crushed. Not discouraged, Yamcha had the perfect counter as Shisami was spear heading for him again.

"Solar Flare!" A tremendous flash of white light fired from Yamcha as he yelled out the special technique he had learned from Tien many years ago. Shisami was now completely blinded and open to attack so Yamcha charged in for a powerful gut punch hoping to subdue the red giant. But Shisami surprised him by catching his fist with ease. "Ha, would've worked on a lesser opponent but just cause my sight is disoriented doesn't mean I'm defenseless, I heard you coming easily." Shisami had surprised Yamcha and now had the upper hand because Yamcha couldn't break free from his grip. And with Yamcha in his grasp Shisami pulled him in until he had him in a bear hug.

Feeling his body slowly being crushed Yamcha knew he was in deep trouble. He tried his best to power up and landed a crushing head butt but Shisami was way to strong and did not let go. Fading in and out of consciousness Yamcha could only think about if the others managed to escape and hoped he gave them enough time. But right before completely passing out something strange happened, General Shisami had let Yamcha go and threw him to the floor. Yamcha hit the ground hard but managed to soften the crash landing abit by powering up on impact. As he knelt catching his breath he looked up only to see General Shisami still above him but now his attention was diverted to something else. It was Androids 17 and 18 hovering overhead, they no doubt could hear and sense the battle going on in the area.

"Hey sis do you remember giving any weird bull face chumps permission to terrorize our prey?" Android 17 looked down at Yamcha as he then stared back at Shisami. "Nope. I don't think we did. Especially not with Yamcha, out of all the toys left on this planet he is one of my favorites and I wasn't going to kill him just yet." Android 17 rolled his eyes and 18 laughed and smiled at Yamcha.

"Ah, so more of Goku's friends have come to die. I knew Frieza had warned us about you people hiding your power levels but it's almost as if you two are not even alive, so I was a little surprised to see you just flying over head without me noticing right away. But I'm afraid I'm short on time so If you can't help me with what I need I will dispose of you all here and now." Shisami only blinked as he spoke and lost sight of where Android 17 went, and to add more to his confusion he didn't even feel him use ki to move that fast. However, it didn't take long for him to know where he went because Android 17 had touched the tip of one of his horns. Quickly he swung around to strike but Shisami struck nothing but air and all he heard was a loud pop. It happened so fast but one of General Shisami's horns was snapped right off by Android 17 and was in the android's hand. As this was happening Yamcha watched on in disbelief, he knew the Androids were strong all these years but even this soldier from Frieza's army was being toyed with. "Wow that thing just popped right off, I was hoping his head would've came with it." 17 and 18 laughed as 17 inspected Shisami's horn like a trophy and pretended to play it as an instrument. This made Shisami furious "You insignificant insects no one makes a fool of Shisami! Noooo! One!"

Shisami yelled to charge up once again but it was short lived, because Android 17 made sure it was over by striking Shisami right in his open mouth, gouging him straight through his head with his own horn. The red giant's lifeless body fell straight down to the ground and without warning Android 18 canon fire blasted a large energy bomb that destroyed everything including Shisami. "Whoa whoa whoa! 18 a little heads up next time you plan on blowing holes in the planet." 17 ran his hands through his hair fixing it back up and then realised that Yamcha was still there. "Did you not run away already? You had plenty of time, or did that big ole red bull break you already?" Yamcha did think about running away but the androids were to close and he didn't want to risk them finding Bulma and the others so he stayed hoping to buy more time even if it was just a few more minutes.

"18 what do you think we should do with your little boyfriend over here?" 17 asked. "Boyfriend? Really? Just because he's kinda cute doesn't mean he's my boyfriend, plus boyfriends suck the last five I had all ran away and then I had to hunt them down and kill them." 18 answered as she wiped debris and dust from her clothes.

17 laughed, "Well no offense sis but your kinda crazy. Hell even Im crazy so I guess that means no one can put up with us." Android 18 stopped cleaning midway and then looked at her android brother. "Um no, just that thought alone is nauseating. I can't live on this planet if it's just going to be me and you all the time. Besides Gohan is growing into a nice young man, I bet he could make for my next boyfriend." 18 snickered as she said this. "Hmm speaking of Gohan, you do remember what we talked about? According to all the files Gero uploaded into us on the saiyan bloodline, I'd say Gohan is not far off from exceeding our powers. It's been fun to fight him all these years because well we killed all the strong fighters to fast. But if we let this linger anymore, due to him being half saiyan he keeps getting stronger after every near death encounter and I'm not trying to die just yet, are you? Plus we still have the little one with the purple hair, I always forget that brats name." Yamcha was annoyed, he couldn't do anything as the androids bickered in front of him as if he wasn't even there. Though he did find it very interesting what the androids said. Just like when Goku would heal from battles and become stronger, Gohan was no different.

Android 18 sighed. "Yeah I know, next time we fight Gohan we kill him. And I guess you're right, cause Vegeta was the only one who managed to actually go toe to toe with us, to bad he got tired and ran out of steam. Hopefully his son Trunks turns out to be just as fun to play with."

"Whoops I forgot again that your boyfriend was still here sis, looks like we have our answer on what to do with em though. Sorry Yamcha but you gotta die today, don't need you running off telling Gohan we think he has a chance to kill us one day. You guys would get extra cautious and we would never find you and it's bad enough this planet is boring as it is." Android 17 then pointed his finger at Yamcha preparing to fire an energy beam. Yamcha knew he couldn't block it and due to Shisami earlier he had a few broken ribs, so dodging it wasn't going to happen either. Down and out Yamcha was disappointed, not because he was about to die but because he just found out that there was still a chance that him and the others could've killed those androids and go back to living how things were. And worst of all he felt he had let down Bulma, the others and even Goku. If only he could have gotten away to let Gohan know he was becoming a threat to the androids.

Android 17 finally fired his charged energy beam straight at Yamcha, and as he closed his eyes for some reason his last thoughts were of Bulma. Though Yamcha for the second time today found himself saved at the last second, and as he opened his eyes, for a split second he thought Goku pulled him to safety. But it was only because Gohan had grown to look like his father, even down to wearing the same orange and blue gi. Gohan and Trunks had managed to silently make their way down to where all the fighting had been going on. "Gohan, Trunks! I know this might sound ungrateful but I don't think it was such a good idea you guys came to save me. I'm pretty much out of commission at the moment."

"No way! We already lost to many people to these freaking androids, not bout to lose you too Yamcha." Trunks shocked Yamcha as he showed so much emotion, especially given the fact Yamcha did not do his best to have any kind of relationship with the boy. "Trunks is right Yamcha, no way we leave a friend in need behind. Its like my dad always use to say we are the allies to good." Gohan then helped Yamcha back up on his feet.

"Thanks you guys. But Gohan listen even with all that being said it's bad man, the androids want you dead for real this time. Your saiyan blood has got them spooked and they know eventually you'll keep growing stronger until you overpower them.

Gohan nodded "Yeah I heard, me and Trunks arrived a little after hearing a second large blast from this area. But Yamcha what happened earlier with the first explosion, I know it wasn't the androids since me and Trunks spotted them heading for the noise as well." Yamcha shook his head as to indicate more bad news. "Well thats why Im pretty bruised up here. I didn't want to believe it but somehow Frieza is alive and he's here with his forces looking for your father. Some big red guy showed up demanding I listen to him and we got into it before the androids showed up and made quick work of him." Gohan's heart felt like it jumped into his throat when he heard Frieza was somehow still alive. Even Trunks not knowing much about the evil tyrant could sense the despair from Yamcha and Gohan when Frieza's name was spoken. The Androids were a threat to the people of Earth but Frieza was a threat to the universe.

"Gohan what's our plan here? Cause I don't think the Androids are just going to sit back much longer and watch us chit chat." Trunks asked as he looked up to just see the androids watching and waving with those evil grins they always have stuck on their faces. Gohan clenched his first and took a step forward as his power level began to slowly rise up. "Listen Trunks, by now Bulma and the others are probably halfway to the safe zone we had setup in case of an attack like this, I need you and Yamcha to go there." Trunks immediately said no to the plan and Yamcha was thinking it as well but he knew it was the only true play they had. With Trunks being inexperienced in battle and Yamcha hurt, it would only hinder Gohan from fighting at his full potential, he would be constantly worrying about them and that is a distraction Yamcha did not want to be.

"No way Gohan, I'm not leaving, even you said it yourself that I was getting stronger, more so than you at this age. So I'm staying right here cause we stand a better chance together." Gohan admired Trunks bravery but he knew that wouldn't be enough against the androids. "Sorry Trunks." Gohan spoke before quickly karate chopping Trunks to the back of the neck only to knock him out. "Yamcha, you can manage carrying him back to the others right?" Yamcha grabbed Trunks from Gohan and placed him over his shoulders. "Yeah I got it Gohan, but you sure about this?"

Gohan smiled and again it reminded Yamcha of Goku. "I got this one Yamcha, and don't worry based on what the androids said earlier they only want me so you take off and get Trunks back to Bulma. If I was to lose him, wouldn't matter if I defeat these guys, Bulma would have my head on a platter." Yamcha laughed and nodded in agreement before shooting off carrying Trunks.

Now all that remained was Gohan and the Androids. "Alright then shall we do this or what?" Gohan again started raising his power level but way higher than he had before. It even caused the Androids to wipe the little smirks they had on their faces because they knew Gohan was getting serious.

Meanwhile moments before back on Frieza's spaceship soldiers down on Earth sent report back to command. "Lord Frieza, there has been progress made by General Shisami and the men. It seems as though the planet Earth is in ruins, and so far most of the humans they've come across have been weak. Upon investigation the planet has been ravaged by two unknown individuals, most humans on this planet now hide in fear. However Shisami is engaging now with a human warrior much stronger than the ones previously reported, hoping to gather more intel on to where the saiyan Goku is hiding." Frieza angrily slammed his hands on the table causing all the soldiers to jump as he heard the news. Was Goku dead he thought to himself, it would be the only explanation as to why the Earth's mighty savior wouldn't be around to protect it. "Why is it so hard for you all to find one measly saiyan?! You tell Shisami to return with that human now, I'll be the one to question him."

"Lord Frieza do you think it possible these unknown threats already killed this Saiyan Goku and that's why we cannot find him?" As soon as the soldier finished his sentence Frieza landed a crushing blow to his head, which sent the soldier flying across the room until he bursts through two walls.

"Anyone else think they know more than me?" Knowing the soldier could be right Frieza could no longer hold back his frustration. If Goku was killed it means whoever did it was strong and did what Frieza couldn't do back on Namek. "Now as I said before, whoever this person Shisami has found I want him here and I want it done quickly!"

"Lord Frieza!" A soldier had come racing into the command center looking quite distraught. "Its General Shisami sir." Frieza had smiled "Well well, that's more like it. Results, is he on his way?"

"The vitals from Generals Shisami's suit had just flatlined sir. And now we are unable to even track him, all we have is his last location. Its as if he disappeared from our radars." Frieza had lost all interest in what the soldier was speaking of and turned his attention back to the planet. Slowly rising he could feel a familiar power level, and for it to reach him so far out of the Earth's atmosphere he wondered if Goku had finally shown himself. Not wanting to wait any further, Frieza felt he needed to take action himself if anything was going to get done.

"Tell my father If he wants to leave for Namek now so be it, but I will be taking a dropship to Earth and handling everything here myself, I'm not depending on imbeciles anymore." As Frieza made his way to the drop ship the only thing he could think about was, revenge and how much he would enjoy it.


	5. Chapter 5 - Crossroads

In a flash Gohan flew straight at the androids and blasted 18 a few hundred feet away while focusing a flurry of punches and kicks on 17. This caught the androids off guard and 17 couldn't keep up with Gohan's early assault with many blows connecting. As 18 returned from being blown back, Gohan struck her brother down and away to the ground to now focus on 18. Gohan knew his best chance to win was to fight fast and to focus on trying to seperate the androids. However the androids caught on to this and stopped attacking one on one with 18 mostly being defensive until her brother made it back up to the fight.

"I like the effort Gohan I really do but your not the only one to try and fight us this way. I'm not surprised though considering the other was also a saiyan." 17 said as his sister backed off to regroup. "It was actually a pretty smart move by your former prince of all saiyans, as he would love to say, but he ran out of steam while we just keep on ticking."

Gohan laughed as he hoped his initial plan would have held out a little while longer, but as always fate wasn't going to make things easy. "Well I guess it's now or never."

"Now or never? What are you spouting off about now?" 17 asked with a smirk on his face but Gohan gave no reply instead all he did was close his eyes. Being ignored enraged both the androids but then they sensed it, Gohan's power level was rising faster than it had before and was showing no signs of slowing down. 18 panicked as she thought it would be smart to strike before Gohan's power reached too high. Though when she tried it shocked her and 17 because it seemed as if her punch went through Gohan's body. Immediately 18 launched multiple energy blast Gohan's way but the same thing happened, as they passed through Gohan like a ghost.

"18! Enough!" 17 said to his sister, though she was angered even more. "Why!? I bet its some stupid after image trick he's using." 18 replied. However 17 had figured out what was happening.

"No sis, it's not an after image technique, he's just moving that fast. I didn't see it at first but Gohan is alot stronger than we calculated." 18 stared at her brother in confusion. "But Gero's data about the saiyans has been solid so far, how could we have gotten that wrong." For the first time the tables have been turned on the androids. They never had to deal with a challenge like this and with that being said it was also the first time they felt fear.

While Gohan's battle with the androids was happening, Yamcha was just catching up to the others as they made their way through the tunnels to get to the safe zone. Quickly Yamcha looked for Bulma, as he knew she was probably going crazy by now with all that's been going on.

"Bulma Im back!" But before Yamcha could say anymore Bulma rushed for her son and grabbed him away from Yamcha while crying. "Oh no Trunks! Is he hurt? What happened?! Why is he unconscious?!"

"He's fine Bulma, Gohan actually had to knock em out or else he wouldn't have come back with me." Yamcha replied. "What is going on Yamcha, and where is Gohan?" Yamcha knew he confused Bulma with that statement and a lot has happened so he gave Bulma an update on everything. From Frieza still being alive looking for Goku, down to Gohan out alone battling the androids.

Bulma rested her son in her lap as she needed to sit down after hearing all the news. "Gohan's out there all alone with the androids and now Frieza is here. Yamcha what are we going to do?" As Bulma spoke she finally noticed Yamcha had been injured. "Oh wow Yamcha I'm sorry, I got all worked up and didn't even realise you were hurt."

"Don't worry its nothing I can't handle. But as far as things go, we keep heading for the safe zone. I know Gohan's on his own at the moment but as soon as we get to the safe zone I'm heading back out. Plus it's gonna sound crazy but for few moments out there it was like Goku came back." Yamcha could see Bulma looking a little confused again so he clarified. "I don't mean literally, I mean Gohan. It's that same feeling I would get when things looked rough but Goku arrived and it felt like everything was going to be okay. Gohan's changed I could feel it, just for a few seconds, but it was there, that sense of calm. So I think the androids are going to have their hands full for a while." As Yamcha was finishing up talking to Bulma, Trunks began to slowly move his body and open his eyes. "Huh, Where am I?" Trunks groggily asked.

"Hold up Trunks not so fast. We're on our way to the safe zone." Bulma answered but Trunks came to and finally remembered what happened. "Wait no Gohan! I have to get back to him, the androids, he can't take them on alone."

"Trunks! You listen to me, Gohan did what he had to and with that he gave us a chance! Once we get to where we need to go it will be Yamcha, not you, who goes back for Gohan. Got it?" Bulma scolded Trunks for thinking irrationally but her son like his dad was too headstrong. "But ma, Yamcha is hurt. And I'm not a little kid anymore. Gohan is going to need my help." Before Bulma could argue back with Trunks, a resistance fighter had interrupted the conversation.

"Sorry for interrupting but we have a problem. It seems our scouts are not checking back in and last transmissions stated possible enemy forces ahead. I believe we are no longer alone in the tunnels. How should we proceed?"

"Crap! It has to be Frieza's soldiers. You guys hold here and I'll go ahead and see what I can do." Yamcha said.

"But Yamcha your wounds, and you haven't even had a chance to rest." Bulma expressed her concerns but Yamcha knew they were running out of options that were in their favor. "It should be fine, if it's anything like the soldiers I ran into earlier these guys are cream puffs compared to what we have been dealing with all these years."

Trunks saw this as an opportunity to help. "Yamcha I'm coming with you, and before you get mad mom, I am thinking straight on this one, we need all hands on deck if we are to make it through this."

"Trunks I dunno what's down there and it could get dicey." Yamcha replied however it was Bulma who actually agreed to this. Originally she wanted to dispute with what her son just said but she couldn't. "Yamcha you watch out for him and if it looks crazy you head back and we just hold at our base until we can devise a better plan." Trunks smiled as his mom gave him approval to join the fight. So he and Yamcha began to make their way up ahead in the tunnels to see what the enemy was up to.

Yamcha chose to run on foot to help with masking his and Trunks power levels just in case these soldiers had scouters. "Hey Trunks, I know I said most these guys are weak but that was just to put your mother at ease. That big red guy I told you and Gohan about was pretty tough and so if anything goes wrong you run back to the others."

Trunks nodded his head. But Yamcha noticed as they kept running closer to where the scouts went missing, Trunks kept looking at him as if he needed to ask or say something.

"Hey kid don't take what I'm asking the wrong way, I know how much you've grown with Gohan training you. And I really know how much power saiyans have, as I've lived with them for a while now. But what scares me alot more is if I let you get hurt and your mom comes after me. I mean literally if we died fighting she would find a way to wish us all back just so she could kill me herself." Trunks chuckled as he knew what Yamcha said was 100 percent the truth.

"Its not that it's just… I felt me and you would've been friends if not for who my father was. I know it's the worst time to be bringing this up but I get why you would hate me, since my dad was responsible for killing you once." Yamcha was stunned as he didn't know Trunks knew these things about Vegeta's first visit to Earth.

"Yeah prolly not the greatest time to have a chat about that but I will tell you this Trunks I don't hate you. Regardless of what goes on between your mom and I, and any thoughts I have on your dad that's got nothing to do with you. So it's totally on me if you thought that all this time." Yamcha wanted to say a bit more on the matter but he stopped running as he noticed the bodies of the scouts they were looking for lying dead on the floor. However one of the scouts a few feet away from the rest was still alive and he was struggling to say something. Trunks and Yamcha rushed over to his aid and as Yamcha bent down to pick up the scout he could better hear what he was trying to say.

"Tr...Trra...Trap." Yamcha's eyes grew larger as he could then hear a beeping noise coming from the soldiers chest. Without hesitation Yamcha pushed Trunks out of the way and put up an energy shield, though the blast still blew him back and caused the tunnel to collapse onto Trunks and himself. As the smoke cleared and Yamcha pushed off some of the rubble he looked up to see 8 of Frieza's men had been waiting for someone to come and land in their ambush. With Trunks still stuck under rubble and very little time to react Yamcha sprung into action.

"Wolf Fang Fist!" Yamcha screamed out as he dashed head on with lightning fast speed towards the enemy striking and taking down 5 soldiers instantly. Trunks now realizing it was a trap bursted through the debris and moved into action as well quickly making short work of the remaining 3 soldiers with ki blast to incapacitate them. Yamcha looked over to Trunks and was glad he was okay but shortly fell to his knees. Already being wounded from before and not having a chance to heal, Yamcha's last bit of power was almost all gone.

"Yamcha!, Are you alright? I'm sorry I didn't know it was a trap."

"Its okay Trunks, I fell for it too. But looks like we have no options but to head back. The enemy surely is going to know where we are now." Yamcha said as he struggled to get back onto his feet. Though Trunks was not willing to comply this time.

"I can't go with you Yamcha." Trunks said with a serious look on his face.

"Wait. No, no no no. I know what your thinking but no. The plan was anything goes wrong and we head back. You knew this Trunks, that was what we agreed to."

"Except you forgot the part where you were going to go assist Gohan after we made it to the safe zone. But now there is no going to the safe zone and your way to hurt to go out there to help Gohan in any way. I have to do this Yamcha and you know it's true. Plus even if you don't agree you're in no shape to stop me if you wanted to." Yamcha laughed a bit but stopped as it hurt his ribs but for the second time today he saw a ghost from the past. First with Gohan looking like Goku and now Trunks reminding him of Vegeta with that comment.

Yamcha took a deep breath before speaking again. "Trunks, be safe and when you do reach Gohan you two better return back to the main camp."

Trunks nodded in agreement. "Don't worry we'll be back."

"Well lets just say I'm more worried about what your mother is going to do when I return and your not with me. So again I repeat please return back to camp. Especially for my sake."

"Will do." Trunks said as he blasted off in a hurry to reach Gohan.

As Trunks zoomed through the sky towards his mentor he could sense Gohan's power level rising exponentially. In the corner of his eye he noticed a dropship piercing through the clouds and heading for the same direction towards Gohan. This caused Trunks to pick up his pace even further as he knew that Gohan was going all out against the androids and now more enemies were on their way to the location. But the biggest issue Trunks didn't know was the Tyrant Frieza had finally made his way onto the planet and was ready to unleash his wrath on any who stood in his way.


End file.
